Content Warning - this letter discusses racial violence

Dear Community, 

We are writing with heavy hearts and a sense of outrage as we reject the racist violence we see and have been seeing in our country-- the indefensible murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, David McAtee, and far, far too many others-- and to honor, celebrate, affirm the worth of, and commit to action in favor of Black lives.

We memorialize and condemn these deaths, the excessive use of force against protesters, the systemic racism that has been baked into our society for over 400 years and on which it was founded, and racial discrimination and injustice in all its forms-- we have always and will continue to vehemently condemn racism in all its manifestations. We understand we're going to make mistakes, and we wish to be held accountable for the ways in which our language and actions contribute to oppression and upholding White supremacy.

As an all-White board leading a majority White organization of friends, supporters and returned volunteers of the Peace Corps-- a primarily White institution, that works in many Black and Brown communities around the world-- we know we have a lot of our own work to do. We recognize that we have not been as welcoming and inclusive of an organization as we would like to be, bringing our own biased assumptions, racism, and White privilege to the work we have been doing to lead RIPCA.

To our Black members and other members of color and diverse identities, and for all of our sakes, we commit to doing better. We are open to critique and pledge to learn and grow from it. Moreover, as Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and supporters, we also believe we are uniquely positioned and morally obligated to leverage many of the Peace Corps skills, values, and intercultural experiences we have had employing empathy and humility to seek understanding, build relationships of peace and friendship, commit to strategic and purposeful action, affect change, and build bridges across divides. You may have seen the statement that Glenn Blumhorst, the President of the National Peace Corps Association to which we are an affiliate, sent out this past Sunday with more to say on that. If not, we urge you to read and reflect on it here: 

https://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/articles/stand-against-racial-injustice

We’d also like to ask all of you what other organizations, resources, or actions you’d like us to share? What would you all like to commit to doing together as a RIPCA community? We obviously don’t have close to all the answers, and want to draw on the brilliance and ingenuity of all of you as we continue to plan more of our next steps in the fight to dismantle racism in our own organization and in our broader community as well. Please send thoughts, reflections, resources, and ideas to us at: rireturnedpeacecorps@gmail.com. We’d also be happy to jump on the phone with any of you to discuss further and invite you to also email to coordinate that. 

Finally, to all our members and especially our Black members-- we see you, we love you, we commit to do better by you, and we commit to sustained action within RIPCA and beyond.

With love and hope for a more just and equitable future that together we can begin to create,  

Tamara Burman

Emily McGinnis

Laura Bechard

Kaitlyn Morgan

Nathan Watchous

Joan Mathieu

The Rhode Island Area Peace Corps Association Leadership Board